Tuesday, August 30, 2016

This past weekend my crew was craving pasta and I was looking for a recipe that was delicious and would make enough for a couple of meals and leftovers for lunches this week. I had this Pioneer Woman recipe bookmarked and it was the perfect time to try it out. I tweaked it a teeny bit, but nothing major. You need to make this ASAP, trust me!

I gathered the ingredients (minus the can of tomatoes that I forgot to include in the pic - ooops!) and got to work.

Ingredients

- 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil

- 1 whole large onion, chopped

- 3 cloves minced garlic

- 2 pounds meat (I used 1 lb ground beef and 1 lb sausage)

- 1 large can whole tomatoes (28 oz - don't drain them!)

- 2 cans marinara sauce (the original recipe called for 14.5 oz jars, I used regular 24 oz size)

- 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning

- Salt and pepper

- 16 oz pasta (I used ziti)

- 1 15 oz container whole milk ricotta

- 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

- 5 cups of shredded mozzarella

- 2 eggs

- fresh parsley

Step 1 - Chop the onion and mince the garlic...

... or use the cheater garlic like me :)

Step 2 - Heat the 2 tablespoons of olive oil and add in the onions and garlic. Cook on medium until they're translucent and soft.

Step 3 - Add in the meat, cook and drain.

Step 4 - Add the two jars of sauce (I used a whole jar and a little more than half of the others), the whole tomatoes, Italian seasoning and some salt and pepper to the cooked meat. Simmer on low for about 30 minutes.

Step 5 - Clean up your mess (maybe that's just me - hahaha), bring a big pot of water to a boil and cook the pasta about a minute short of being al dente. It's going to bake for a bit, so if you cook it too much it will cook too much. My pasta called for 10-12 mins and I did 9.

My boys were in and out of the kitchen ALL afternoon. Stirring, smelling, sampling. ;)

Step 6 - When the pasta is done, drain it and rinse it with cold water to stop the cooking.

Step 7 - Take about 4 cups of the sauce out of the pot and let it cool (mine didn't cool completely and it was fine).

Step 8 - While the sauce is cooling, mix together the Ricotta, mozzarella, eggs, Parmesan and some parsley. Don't over mix it... just stir it a bit.

Step 9 - Mix the cooked pasta in with the cheese mixture. Don't worry about mixing it a bunch. Just kind of toss it. Lumps are totally fine.

Step 10 - Mix the 4 cool cups of sauce in with the pasta/cheese.

Step 11 - Put half of the pasta into a lasagna (or other large baking) dish.

Step 12 - Cover with half the sauce and some mozzarella.

Step 13 - Top with more pasta, sauce and cheese.

Step 14 - Pop it in the oven at 375 for 20 minutes or until the cheese on top is bubbly and melty.

While it's baking, this may happen. He made a rocket ship ;)

And it's done!!! Throw some more fresh parsley on top and call it a day!

The house will smell AMAZING at this point! AH-MAZING!

Yes ma'am.

If you're planning on feeding a big group this would make PLENTY! We all ate it for 2 dinners in a row, I sent some home with my dad and we still have probably a third of it left. All my kids gobbled it up and it went on our "keeper list" ;)

Enjoy, friends!!!

In case you want the recipe in an easy to screenshot format ;)

Ingredients

- 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil

- 1 whole large onion, chopped

- 3 cloves minced garlic

- 2 pounds meat (I used 1 lb ground beef and 1 lb sausage)

- 1 large can whole tomatoes (28 oz - don't drain them!)

- 2 cans marinara sauce (the original recipe called for 14.5 oz jars, I used regular 24 oz size)

- 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning

- Salt and pepper

- 16 oz pasta (I used ziti)

- 1 15 oz container whole milk ricotta

- 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

- 5 cups of shredded mozzarella

- 2 eggs

- fresh parsley

Directions

Step 1 - Chop the onion and mince the garlic.

Step 2 - Heat the 2 tablespoons of olive oil and add in the onions and garlic. Cook on medium until they're translucent and soft.

Step 3 - Add in the meat, cook and drain.

Step 4 - Add the two jars of sauce (I used a whole jar and a little more than half of the others), the whole tomatoes, Italian seasoning and some salt and pepper to the cooked meat. Simmer on low for about 30 minutes.

Step 5 - Clean up your mess (maybe that's just me - hahaha), bring a big pot of water to a boil and cook the pasta about a minute short of being al dente. It's going to bake for a bit, so if you cook it too much it will cook too much. My pasta called for 10-12 mins and I did 9.

Step 6 - When the pasta is done, drain it and rinse it with cold water to stop the cooking.

Step 7 - Take about 4 cups of the sauce out of the pot and let it cool (mine didn't cool completely and it was fine).

Step 8 - While the sauce is cooling, mix together the Ricotta, mozzarella, eggs, Parmesan and some parsley. Don't over mix it... just stir it a bit.

Step 9 - Mix the cooked pasta in with the cheese mixture. Don't worry about mixing it a bunch. Just kind of toss it. Lumps are totally fine.

Step 10 - Mix the 4 cool cups of sauce in with the pasta/cheese.

Step 11 - Put half of the pasta into a lasagna (or other large baking) dish.

Step 12 - Cover with half the sauce and some mozzarella.

Step 13 - Top with more pasta, sauce and cheese.

Step 14 - Pop it in the oven at 375 for 20 minutes or until the cheese on top is bubbly and melty. Top with parsley and serve hot.

We live internationally and so "seeing" the general size of the packaging/jars/cans you are using helps ... converted recipes don't seem to work so well for me ;-P and so USA recipes tend to flop.Your pictures help so very much !!!!